


Desperate

by Claireton



Series: The Crate Adventures [1]
Category: Dying Light (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apocalypse, Gen, Inner Dialogue, One Shot, POV Multiple, POV Third Person, Profanity, Rare Fandoms, Self-Doubt, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 12:39:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6566482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Claireton/pseuds/Claireton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate is just trying to survive the outbreak, like everyone else, and maybe manage to maintain some morality along the way.  But when the same man takes a rations drop for the third time, she might have to venture outside of her comfort zone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Desperate

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, thanks for coming to read! This is very experimental for me, it's the first time I've written in the third person and technically the first time I'm going to use thoughts of a character. Hope you enjoy!

Kate peered over the makeshift parapet, her fingers curled over the edge of the corrugated sheet of metal. The balcony she had positioned herself on was high enough that she needn't worry about any of the infected making a surprise appearance, and so she dedicated her focus fully to the situation before her.

The crate had come to a rest in a sorry excuse for a backyard, constructed behind one of the city's many shanty houses and half assedly closed off from unwelcome eyes with shoddy, low brick walls . It appeared so inviting, patiently waiting for any old person to come along and secure its treasures. Kate would gladly have accepted the offer, too, but there was one problem.

That damned man had gotten there first. Again.

For the third time in two days Kate had sprinted as fast as her legs would carry her, leaping across the rooftops and nimbly avoiding stray infected in her pursuit of the air drops that were often distributed across the city. Every single time, no matter how quickly she managed to arrive, _he_ was already there, pilfering the goods like a selfish little vulture. She wasn't even sure how he did it; on that particular day she had found him cleaning away the last of one drop and spurred herself to move off for the other, only to have him already there again. Theories of identical twins teased her thoughts until the clicking of unlatching clasps brought her focus back to the situation. He swept off the edge of the parachute that had guaranteed the drop's unscathed arrival before lifting the broad lid with little effort. As she watched, Kate took the opportunity to size him up properly for the first time.

He was fairly well built, tall and lean but managing to avoid looking like a demented balloon animal with grotesque, bulging muscles. An ideal body type for navigating the city, really. Being a powerhouse was all well and good, but being nimble was just as, if not more important for survival in Harran.

The relentless sunlight brought life to even the washed out tones of his juniper colored shirt, the sleeves carelessly hoisted up to his elbows. The ends were haphazardly stuffed into his jeans by random segments, though with enough forethought to leave easy access to the gleaming hatchet at his hip. The thing probably hadn't seen much use yet. Whether that was the only weapon he had on him was hard to tell, thanks to Kate's position only letting her observe his left profile. Filthied brown running shoes protected his feet, and what Kate could see of his face contorted into light curiosity as he looked over the contents of the drop. Short brown hair, unchecked and messy after high speed running had mussed it up, connected with a thick stubble that helped to define his jawline. Kate shamed herself for letting her heart twitch with salacious thoughts and ducked back down, leaning her back against the metal sheet.

_'Well shit, what're you gonna do now?'_

Running after air drops was usually something she actively tried to avoid. Being able to be seen from pretty much anywhere, they might as well have carried speakers ordering every survivor in the city to congregate wherever they landed. And more people meant more trouble, especially when Rais and his thugs got involved. Kate had, with a boost of self confidence, managed to adapt reasonably well to the outbreak, and had gotten by on whatever bits and pieces she could scavenge from abandoned shops or the like. Lately, however, it had become a little more difficult, and a cranky stomach demanded that she turn back around to see what was happening with the rations inside the drop. With a breath to steel herself she swiveled round again, looking over the edge.

He stood with his hands planted on his hips, staring at the silver package he had torn open but left the contents within untouched. His hand traveled to his right hip to produce a bulky looking radio.

_'Damn, you could probably use one of those.'_

When his head turned away from her, she perked her eyebrows, only to duck down when it came back around to look in her direction, face scrunched in a silent prayer.

 _'You fucking idiot, he_  saw _you. What are you waiting for? Run!'_

Muscles locked with anticipation made her remain still, but no cries of acknowledgement came. Her fingers remained clamped to the edge of the sheet like vices, but the only sounds to be heard were listlessly fluttering wrappers or the occasional bird.

"Brecken? It's Crane." the man broke the silence with a rough, American accent.

Her muscles loosened with a relieved breath as she thought on the name. 'Brecken' sounded familiar, though she couldn't quite put a face to the name. With agonizing slowness she brought her eyes above the parapet again to find the man looking back down to the supplies, radio elevated beside his head.

_'What kinda name is Crane anyway? Maybe because he's tall?'_

"There's Antizin and rations, but-but it's not enough." he informed the other end, his voice carrying an edge of disappointment.

 "Ye- yeah, I know Brecken. Look, there'll be more drops. We don' have to go to Rais just yet."

A weight lifted from Kate's shoulders at this tidbit of information. It was always reassuring to know someone wasn't part of Rais' gang. Much higher chance of them having some humanity. That also meant that this Crane was probably a resident of the Tower. There weren't many people like Kate that tried to avoid picking one side or the other.

_'The Tower! Brecken's the leader of the Tower.'_

Kate shuffled her legs to avoid any locking up and switched her gaze to her pack beside her, leaned against the parapet. It was fairly small, being only a child's schoolbag, though it carried more than enough for her, and had held its own throughout her trials. It had actually been a luminous yellow once, but an afternoon of smearing dirt had rendered it as dull as most anything else. She hiked it closer before looking back to Crane as he spoke.

"Look, if we don' get any by-" he started before sharply turning his head away from Kate, taking in two infected that struggled to pass the garden's low walls.

"Uh, hang on a sec."

Crane placed the radio onto one of the boxes in the crate before lifting the hatchet from his waist. Kate's heart leapt as she watched him slowly make his way toward the biters, leaving the goods entirely unprotected. Her legs twitched with anticipation, with her fingers gripping the metal sheets so tensely they stung.

_'No way. You can't.'_

Her stomach growled its disagreement, and she lay on a hand on it as if to calm it.

**'Well, if I'm fast enough...'**

_'And if you're not?'  
_

Kate lifted her pack, slipping her arms through the straps.

**'Then I'll go out trying here instead of starving somewhere else.'**

She vaulted over the edge, trying to soften the sound of her fall by bending her knees and letting her hands press into the dirt. Her head snapped up to watch Crane, stepping over the wall with his shoulders squared before kicking one of the biters to the ground. While that one struggled he went for the other, landing a clean blow that left the thing's jaw dangling but didn't quite put it out of commission.

_'That'll be you if you don't move it, Kate.'_

She scuttled toward the garden's wall, keeping herself crouched and tentatively stepping over. If it _did_ come to a fight, she wasn't entirely sure what would happen. The only weapon she carried was a formidable claw hammer, and even that was buried amongst the contents of her backpack. She wouldn't be helpless otherwise, but coming only to 5'5 meant she had a disadvantage on the height front. Crane was at least 6'0. She allowed her body to feel some hope as she neared the crate, watching the silver packaging glint in the sunlight, daring her. Kate's fingers twitched with want as she came to a stop, noting the radio beside the rations before quietly sliding off her backpack and resting it against the side of the crate.

_'No, don't take the radio. You're already taking his food.'_

She ran her tongue across her teeth as she looked at the device.

**'It's not _his_ food, it's supposed to be for everyone.'**

_'Then what right do you have taking it?'_

She raised her head, catching her gaze in the reflection in a window of the house who's backyard she was invading. A woman stared back, worry thick in her tired green eyes. Her tied back hair, once dyed a mellow maroon colour, had long since been bled into at the roots by a more natural brown that refused to be forgotten. Dirty brown cargo pants were hidden at the top by a black t shirt that looked as though it had seen better days.

**'I need it.'**

Kate threw another glance at the occupied Crane before easing open the zip of her bag and burying her hand in the silver packaging to retrieve a smaller bag of goods. By the weight of it, it probably carried some decent supplies. She resisted the urge to pull it open then and there to inspect and instead stuffed it into her backpack, returning her hand for more. Her hand found nothing else.

**'Are you kidding me?! One packet?!'**

She pulled back her hand, immediately changing to the box adorned with a cross on the lid. Antizin. She lifted the lid and checked the inside, finding a dozen vials of the medicine packed neatly into a foam tray.

_'You don't need that.'_

**'Other people do. They'll pay for it.'**

_'When did you turn into fucking Rais?'  
_

"Crane?" a voice, presumably Brecken's, came through the radio.

Kate froze and looked to it, eyes wide. She could feel the next part coming before a word was said.

"Hey!" Crane yelled.

Kate flinched, turning her head to see him watching her, shoulders squared and a frown on his features as he stood over the deceased biter. His gloved right hand clutched tightly to his hatchet, trickling with the blood that formerly belonged to the corpse's head. There was a daunting silence as Kate's body forced itself into motion again, stuffing one the tray into her backpack and listening to determined, even footsteps march toward her as she hastily closed the zip.  She had just managed to get the left strap on when a rough hand clamped onto her shoulder, instantly bringing pain.

"Listen you little-" he growled.

Kate's free hand instinctively latched onto the radio, swinging it up and having it connect with Crane's temple. The hand loosened and Kate stumbled back, forcing her right arm through the remaining bag strap. She couldn't help but freeze and assess the damage she had done, letting the radio drop to the ground. Crane brushed a hand on his temple, checking on it for blood before slowly looking back to Kate, his jaw locked and his eyes seething with anger.

**'Oh. Shit.'**

She whipped around, already halfway to the wall when Crane clipped his hatchet again and began pursuit. After hopping over the wall, Kate risked a look back to watch Crane scoop up the radio without stopping. She bolted down the alleyway between the two houses, feet crushing whatever filth had accumulated on the ground and feeling the contents of her backpack jostle with each frantic step.

_'Those vials are gonna break if you keep going like this.'_

**'Who gives a shit?! If I stop I'm done for!'** _  
_

_'You said it yourself; Other people need them.'_

"Get back here!" Crane roared.

Kate neared the end of the alley, continuing on as the area to either side of her opened up and became one of the slum's many streets. More than anything she wanted to stop and work out the best path to take, but given her situation all she could work with was the path straight ahead. She could go around the right side of the car in front of her and hurry down a staircase to another maze of houses, or take the left path and find herself hurrying across the rooftops of said houses. The corpse that dangled lifelessly outside of the car's left window reminded her that there was more to fear than the man on her heels, and so she opted for the higher route, hoping to possibly shake him off with some tricky movement.

She swerved to the left of the car, listening to the rasps of nearby biters as they picked up on the sound of two adults sprinting as hard as their legs would carry them. Halfway past the car a sudden grip on her arm stole all of her momentum, making her whip around and watch the biter in the car try to make a meal of her forearm.

**'No!'**

Her hand was inches from shoving its forehead back when a hatchet made itself at home between the biter's ear and the back of its head, splashing blood across the ground and stopping the creature dead. Her gaze traveled up the hatchet, following the attached arm before coming to rest on Crane's face. Rather than find him glaring at her, however, his gaze lingered on the corpse with a trace of relief. It was long enough to make her curious, but quickly replaced by an aggravated glare when his head turned to her.

"Now.." he began, replacing the biter's grip with one of his own.

Kate looked up at Crane as he took her in, appearing to size her up.

"Quick little shit, aren't ya?"

She almost managed to feel calm, appreciating the fact that this man had just saved her from a nasty situation, but it was immediately replaced by panic as his hand slid around the handle of his hatchet again, still embedded in the corpse's skull. With that, a shameless knee to the groin let her step back and watch as Crane doubled over, choking up spluttered words with his eyes bulging. With him occupied, she looked to the hatchet.

_'Fuck that, just run!'_

She turned on her heel and ran for the rooftop, listening to her heavy thuds on concrete become reverberating clacks on the metal sheets that composed most of the slum houses' tops.

_**'** Where the hell are you even running to?'_

**'** **Away from the guy trying to** **kill** **me!'**

_'How do you know he was trying to kill you?' He literally just saved your life.'  
_

Kate leapt from one roof to the next, approaching a wall just a little bit higher than herself. Flat and concrete, it was an easy climb.

_'_ **'** **I** **f I get up here I can look for somewhere to hide.'**

She came to a stop at the wall's bottom, jumping up. Her fingers curled around the edge, supporting her weight while she lifted her feet to plant against the wall. One attempt at heaving herself up made her fingers slip, and she landed back on her feet below.

"God damnit..." she muttered, prepping herself for another jump.

A force barrelling into her from behind slammed Kate against the wall, choking up a strangled cry and introducing burning pain to the front half of her body. An arm kept her pressed against the wall while a frustrated hand snapped at the straps of her bag, forcing them off of her. She watched it be tossed aside before the same hands forced her to turn and greet Crane's enraged face.

"Listen you little fuck!" he seethed.

Kate brought her hand up, aiming a scratch for his face, but Crane was faster, snatching the hand and forcing it back down to her side.

"I'm givin' you _one_ more chance to give me back my stuff and just walk away."

Kate observed him, the gears of her mind turning furiously.

_'His head's close. Try headbutt him.'_

**'He's too tall. I won't get him good enough.'**

She brought her gaze down to his legs, braced to apply more pressure against her. The angle she was at prevented another groin attack, but perhaps there was another opportunity.

_'His foot.'_

Kate brought her knee up high as the space allowed before slamming her heel onto his foot. Though his grip didn't loosen, Crane growled in pain in lowered his head to look at what she had done, delivering the chance for Kate to crash her forehead just above his nose.  Sharp pain accompanied blurred vision as she listened to Crane roar and felt his grip on her shoulder loosen. She charged him, pressing her own hands against his shoulders and pushing him back. It wouldn't have been possible if he wasn't already stumbling over himself.

_'What are you doing?!'_

**'I won't have enough time to get my bag and run if I don't delay him somehow.'**

_'You could kill him if you push him off!'  
_

**'It's not that high.'**

They reached the roof's edge, and Kate was seconds away from being free to escape when Crane seemed to regain his composure, his eyes coming to focus on her again, wide with fear. It was too late to stop himself however, and even as he toppled over the edge Kate felt her heart drop to her stomach.

**'** **It won't kill him. It won't.'**

Still, she peered over the edge, finding Crane scrambling to his feet. He looked relatively unharmed, but that might not have lasted long with the three biters that were making their way toward him. The alley below was clearly too small to fight all of them alone, but still Kate turned, starting to move for her bag.

_'He's going to die down there.'_

She reached it, kneeling down.

_'He saved your life, and gave you a chance to leave, but you're going to just feed him to the infected like that?'  
_

She pulled her bag toward her, unzipping it and checking the contents.

_'You're pathetic.'_

Her hand dove among the items, closing around the handle of the hammer and pulling it free. She bounced it up and down in her grip a few times to test its weight before standing straight again and beginning her jog back to the edge.

_**'This is fucking stupid.'** _

She assessed the situation, watching as Crane swung his hatchet into the face of one of the biters that came at his front. He seemed panicked, and was oblivious to the third of the trio lurking behind him. Kate hopped down, dipping in and out of a crouch before sprinting toward the biter. It was entirely too focused on the easy prey in front of it to bother much with her, until the end of her hammer dented its skull, making it stagger back and crash into one of alley's walls. Without giving it time to recuperate she slammed the hammer down again, miscalculating and hitting the thing's shoulder, by which it appeared entirely unfazed.

Kate stepped back, reevaluating her plan, before feeling a pair of eyes on her. She looked to Crane, seeing him take a brief moment after killing a biter to look her up and down. Lost on how to react, Kate simply offered a nod that was returned before each focused back on their respective targets.

The biter charged, its arms outstretched to trap her in its feral grip. She sidestepped, letting the creature fall victim to its own momentum and stumble before bringing the hammer's clawed side down, buried deep in its skull. The biter collapsed to the ground, taking the weapon with it as Kate loosed a breath of accomplishment. She checked behind her for any surprises before gripping her weapon's handle and tugging at it. The corpse's head bounced along with it for a few moments before at last releasing the claw with a thick squelch, decorating her shoes with flecks of blood. As Kate raised herself again her eyes traveled to Crane, winning the battle against a biter, but one more had caught wind of the commotion and was shuffling toward him from a distance.

_**'Well, we're even now. We saved each other's lives and you don't even know my name.'** _

She turned and tossed her hammer up to the roof before climbing up to join it.

\----

Kyle extricated his hatchet from the corpse's head with a grunt, sweeping his gaze around for more biters and relaxing on finding the area empty. He turned to where the woman had been, prepared to thank her, only to see nothing but a corpse on the ground. He sighed, finding it hard to be too surprised. He  _had_ seemed to frighten her quite a bit. Still, people in the Tower needed that medicine, and that girl clearly wasn't bitten. Perhaps if he tried a more calm approach he could get what he was after.

He clipped his hatchet back onto his waist before lifting himself up onto the roof that she had pushed him from. The lack of any bag was expected, but Kyle's eyebrows furrowed with curiosity to see something else on the ground in its place. He approached, casually walking over and cocking his head in surprise to find a tray of Antizin vials placed neatly onto the concrete. Two or three of them had broken, seeping out onto the foam and rendered useless. Kyle cursed himself for being too rough on a backpack that he knew was carrying the vials before lifting his head to look around. A pair of eyes connected with his own through a dirt caked window before ducking back out of sight, making a grin play on his mouth.

Kind as the gesture was, he still planned on compensation for the dirty low blow he received earlier.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I feel like this didn't really work out, but that's what experimenting is for, right? At least I know now, I suppose.
> 
> Think I was wrong about having time for this AND updating A Hands On Approach considering it's 2am right now....but I'll try.


End file.
